


Wilting Peonies

by celestialrae



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Marvel Universe, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Oblivious Tony Stark, POV Steve Rogers, Protective Steve Rogers, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, help me this is my first fanfic, i don't know if i should write a second chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 20:45:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17753198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialrae/pseuds/celestialrae
Summary: “If you had the Hanahaki disease what flower do you think you'd cough up?”There was a brief pause before Tony admitted, “Theoretically perhaps a Peony.”“Why them?”“Why them? Because they’re nearly as beautiful as yours truly... and someone I really admire had always loved Peonies. It'd be pretty ironic that I'd die from not being loved by being suffocated by something they love so much. Do you know what Peonies symbolise?” The grin Tony began with slowly turned into something a little sadder when he continued to talk, and Steve would’ve given anything to just ask him why he suddenly always smiles so sadly, like someone will just come and tell him that he’s not allowed to feel that slight happiness.After slight consideration Maria shook her head, “No, I don’t.”





	Wilting Peonies

Tony had been avoiding me recently which perhaps I should be used to by now because of the amount of times he shuts himself out, but he seems… sick. I’m used to him not eating all too well, not sleeping much and just being a general grump when he feels like it but this time I can’t just watch him wither away like this. This time I’m afraid its much worse, whenever I do happen to see him he’s frail and hunched over like he can hardly even withstand the weight of his full body. He looks sad and reserved and even when I catch his eye occasionally he’ll smile but it’s weak and only ends in an outburst of coughs. God even now as he’s walking to his damn locker he looks like a zombie.

“You know Steve, soon they might start to classify what you’re doing as lurking or perhaps even stalking,” Natasha whispers right behind me which admittedly makes me flinch only causing her to smirk.

“I’m just worried Nat, he seems sick, but he won’t tell us anything and god bless the day he asks anyone for help. C’mon, you know how he is, and I can tell you also see something’s wrong with him.” Tony once told me I seem to age 70 years when I frown because of the crease that forms between my eyebrows but this time I can’t help it (he smoothed it down with his thumb anyway and joked that he was suddenly into elder men; which made my heartrate increase more than I thought it could but no one can ever prove that).

“Maria dropped something off to me before and she seemed panicked, said it was about Tony. Today we’ll watch over him but this afternoon Clint, you and I are going to see what concerned Maria so much, ok?”

“Ok but if it’s not helpful I will personally lock myself in a room with Tony and cuddle the answer straight out of him.” If Natasha wasn’t smirking when she startled me before, I can assure you, she is now. I have a ~~huge~~ minuscule crush on Tony, so what?

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

As soon as Clint and I arrived at Natasha’s we sat down in her living room as she set up the TV to play something.

“Is that what Maria gave you?” Clint asked over a mouthful of pizza that I wasn’t even aware we had.

“Yes, she said it was for one of her assessments in class. I believe she said ‘Of course it would have to be an interview with someone who has been affected by the Hanahaki disease. Just my luck that’s the topic that Fury assigned to me. You know how many people have been affected by this disease Nat? Fucking 7% of the world-wide population that’s who but you can bet your sweet ass that I’m gonna find someone in that 7%’” I chuckle at her statement then come to a stop as I realise what that implies. Does Tony have Han- no way Steve, someone would have noticed. If I didn’t notice then at least Rhodey or Pepper would’ve, even Bruce would’ve been able to tell. He probably just seems sick because he’s mourning someone he knows that went through it (how much I wish that was true).

Nat sat down as the video started to play, showing Maria and Tony sitting comfortable across from each other in what looked to be the science lab at school. My focus cuts to Tony as his lips suddenly start to move and he starts speaking.

_“I think if you love someone you should tell them. Let them know how much you love them. Tell them that you love them so much. Fuck it, just tell them that you're in love with them and you'd love to keep learning more about them as your relationship blossoms. If you don't you might lose them one day and you'll constantly be burdened by regret. Burdened by the question of ‘what if...?’ instead of being able to look fondly back on what was. Plus, they might need to be told that they're loved. They might need to hear that despite their beliefs they deserve to be loved. What do I know though? I'm just Anthony Edward Stark, scientific genius, mechanical extraordinaire and apparently a hypocrite.” I was ready to jump right then and there to go find him and show him just how much he is loved until Maria started talking._

_“If you had the Hanahaki disease what flower do you think you'd cough up?”_

_There was a brief pause before Tony admitted, “Theoretically perhaps a Peony.”_

_“Why them?”_

_“Why them? Because they’re nearly as beautiful as yours truly... and someone I really admire had always loved Peonies. It'd be pretty ironic that I'd die from not being loved by being suffocated by something they love so much. Do you know what Peonies symbolise?” The grin Tony began with slowly turned into something a little sadder when he continued to talk, and Steve would’ve given anything to just ask him why he suddenly always smiles so sadly, like someone will just come and tell him that he’s not allowed to feel that slight happiness._

_After slight consideration Maria shook her head, “No, I don’t.”_

_“When in full bloom they symbolise good luck, romance, compassion and prosperity but it was believed that when the leaves dry up or become discoloured it was a sign that you should be prepared for disaster. The day I cough out those flowers would mark the day it’s finally my time to wilt, weakening day after day, coughing out flowers that capture the beauty of life within its petals but destruction within its leaves,” Tony seemed to consider something before continuing, “Actually my auntie died from choking up blood red roses. Mind you, during the last stage of the disease the roses were accompanied by blood which just created a whole new meaning. It was strange to later discover that was the favoured flower of the one she loved yet for me the part that I found bitter was that she was dying because she wasn't given the chance to be loved. The physical proof of her one-sided love was the roses, the roses that literally resemble love but in her case heart break.”_

_Tony sighs before saying, “She could've been cured you know? She chose not to be because unless you are loved back, then the only way to be cured is to remove the flowers growing within your lungs along with any feelings you felt for the person you loved so dearly. It's pretty easy to fall in love so once you've decided that person has a place in your heart it suddenly becomes much harder to fall out of love. My aunt could've chased him and forced him to choose her, to give her a chance but she didn't. Seeing him smile, seeing him happy with someone was enough for her because she loved him and that's what you do when you love someone. I can't blame him for not loving her, for loving another. I could never blame anyone for that, but I can be angry. Angry that he never did give her a genuine smile just for her. She deserved a smile.”_

_Maria nodded and wrote something down in a notebook before asking, “What about you?”_

_Tony chuckled softly, “What about me?”_

_“Do you think the person you love also loves you?”_

_“Yes, it appears he does but not the way you think he would. I’m in love with him and he loves me... as a brother and that’s ok.” No, it wasn’t, gosh Steve could tell just by the smile on Tony’s face that he indeed was not ok with that._

_Hill seemed hesitant before finally asking, “Wouldn’t situations like this usually cause Hanahaki? Are you worried?”_

_Slowly shaking his head Tony easily replied, “To be honest no. It seems I am quite like my auntie, seeing the one I love smile and be happy is enough for me. As long as he knows he is loved and surrounded by people who care about him then who am I to ruin that for him? His ‘brother’ telling him how madly in love with him he is would ruin everything. I would die far before I ever ruin his happiness and wipe away that smile.” To be honest Steve was fully ready to personally wipe that dude’s smile off right now, if he caused Tony to be this sad then he didn’t deserve the luxury of smiling. Ok, so maybe it’s not just a minuscule crush._

_“You wouldn’t even get the surgery to remove the flowers?”_

_“No, I wouldn’t. It would hurt like hell, I admit, but being able to feel that much love and knowing you are capable of that is heavenly to me especially because I am often referred to as someone who has no heart and cares more about machines than I ever could about humans. I’d never want to look at him with no love or emotions in my eyes, the concept of that scares me more than death. I’d rather die knowing I was able to live my whole life loving wholeheartedly than just merely living with nothing but emptiness in my heart, just an itch of a feeling that’s not quite there but always picking at the surface, a shadow of what it used to be.” Suddenly Tony’s words seemed too real, like he’s talking from experience instead of just theoretically._

_Maria smiled a bit and let out a low whistle, “You’re an enigma, you know that Stark?”_

_Tony smiled genuinely for the first time, “I’m just in love, so terribly so.”_ Steve wished he didn’t feel his heart shatter to pieces as Tony proclaimed his love for someone else.

Steve jumped a bit in his seat when Clint was suddenly right in front of him with a sort of fire in his eyes that had never been aimed so viciously at Steve.

“I can handle you both being oblivious buttknuckles but not when it actually endangers someone. Before it was just killing us, all having to watch that rising sexual tension but now it’s literally killing Tony and I’m not blaming you Steve but right now you’re the only one that can really help him.” Steve blanked out as soon as Clint said buttknuckles because honestly what did that even mean (and also, language), until suddenly what Clint said registered through Steve’s brain and his eyes widened.

“You can’t mean- Tony doesn’t love me Clint. I’m a mess and he’s so incredible, beautiful and intelligent. He always has you on your toes and when he wants to be he is just so mentally strong sometimes that all I can do is stand back in awe as I see him take down people ten times his strength with merely a few words out of the amazing mouth of his.” Yup, definitely more than a minuscule crush, more like flat out in love with him.

Natasha sighed before saying, “You don’t have to believe us right now Steve but what you do need to do is make sure Tony knows that you love him so even if he doesn’t reciprocate your feelings he might still just open up to you and tell you who he loves. Spoiler alert though, the only person that he will say he loves is Steve Rogers. Sorry, not man, as Tony likes to say ‘a muscle god with an angelic heart and an a-list ass’.”

Sometimes I despised how easily Natasha could convince me to do stuff I otherwise wouldn’t do. Tony was worth this risk though, to be honest I’d do almost anything for him. Perhaps I accepted the fact that he wouldn’t love me back a long time ago but for now I must shove that doubt aside and pray for a miracle. I want to save Tony’s heart and protect it with my own magical shield because as much as Tony insists he doesn’t, he deserves so much love and happiness. God forbid Tony dies while I still walk on this Earth.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi :D Sorry about all the bad grammar but it's really late and I've got a headache but I just wanted to quickly write this. The second chapter is still up for debate, who knows I might just pull a 180 on you and kill Tony (my pure child, i'm so sorry). I don't really know why I picked Steve and Tony for this story, their dynamic just kinda worked. This was originally meant to just have original characters and everything but then I just got the urge to do this (I do dumb shiz when I get curious or get urges).


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